Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs conflict
Iran | combatant2 = | commander1 = Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Admiral Farajollah Rasai | commander2 = Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi | strength1 = | strength2 = | casualties1 = 3 KIA 1 WIA | casualties2 = 1 Killed }} On 30 November 1971, when British forces withdrew from the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian marines moved in to take back territorial control of the islands after British occupation. Causes The Tunbs were in the dominions of the kings of Hormuz from 1330 until 1507 when they were invaded by Portugal. The Portuguese occupied the island until 1622, when they were expelled by Shah Abbas. The islands were occupied by the British Empire on 7 June 1921, and they were put under administration of the Emirate of Sharjah. In 1971, shortly before the end of the British protectorate and the formation of the United Arab Emirates, Iran assumed partial control of Abu Musa under an agreement of joint administration together with Sharjah. A day later on 30 November 1971, Iran seized the Islands and took control over them. Memorandum of understanding File:Alghasemi to British Foreign Secretary.jpg|Ruler of Sharjah asks British Foreign Secretary for Iranian acceptance of the MOU. File:Memorandum of Understanding.jpg|The Memorandum of Understanding as attached to the letter of 18 November 1971 from the Ruler of Sharjah to the British Foreign Secretary. File:MOU-map.jpg|Official map of Abu musa island attached to the Memorandum of Understanding of November 1971. File:British Foreign Secretary to the Iranian Minister of foreign Affairs.jpg|Letter of 24 November 1971 from British Foreign Secretary to the Iranian Minister of foreign Affairs asking for Iranian acceptance of MOU. File:Iranian Foreign Minister to the British Foreign Secretary-2.jpg|Letter of 25 November 1971 from Iranian Foreign Minister to the British Foreign Secretary concerning Iran’s acceptance of the MOU. File:Iranian Foreign Minister to the British Foreign Secretary-1.jpg|Letter of 25 November 1971 from the Iranian Foreign Minister to the British Foreign Secretary spelling out Iran’s conditions and warnings relevant to Iran’s acceptance of the MOU. File:British Foreign Secretary to the Iranian Foreign Minister.jpg|Letter of 26 November 1971 from British Foreign Secretary to the Iranian Foreign Minister informing him that Iran’s conditions and warnings had been conveyed to the Ruler of Sharjah. (It was agreed that an absence of reply from the Ruler of Sharjah to this letter would amount to his acceptance of Iran’s conditions and warnings.) Operation On 30 November 1971 the Imperial Iranian Navy seized the islands under small resistance of the tiny Arab police force stationed in there. Despite the agreement between Sharjah and Iran, Ras Khaima ruler resisted the Iranian troops that were sent to the Tunbs. The Iranians planes kept shooting the police station which made the Arab forces to return fire on ground troops. According to some sources, the Arab civilian population of Greater Tunb was then deported, but according to others the island had already been uninhabited for some time earlier.Schofield, Richard. Borders and territoriality in the Gulf and the Arabian peninsula during the twentieth century. In: Schofield (ed.) Territorial foundations of the Gulf states. London: UCL Press, 1994. 1-77. References on p. 38. Aftermath and Greater and Lesser Tunbs in Iran and Turan Map by Adolf Stieler map 1891]] In the following decades, the issue remained a source of friction between the Arab states and Iran. Negotiations between the UAE and Iran in 1992 failed. The UAE have attempted to bring the dispute before the International Court of Justice,Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research (HIIK) but Iran refused. Tehran says the islands always belonged to it as it had never renounced possession of the islands, and that they are part of Iranian territory.Safa Haeri, http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles/iran_uae_saudi.html The United Arab Emirates argue that the islands were under the control of Qasimi sheikhs throughout the nineteenth century, whose rights were then inherited by the UAE after 1971. Iran counters by stating that the local Qasimi rulers during a crucial part of the nineteenth century were actually based on the Iranian, not the Arab, coast, and had thus become Persian subjects.Schofield: 35-37. In 1980, the UAE took its claim to the United Nations,Article about Abu Musa in the Trade & Environment Database of the American University, Massachusetts but it was rejected by the UN Security Council, and the case was closed. See also * Iran–United Arab Emirates relations References External links * Picture of announcement made to the local residents of Tunb Island about the return of islands to Iranian territory in Arabic and Persian signed by King of Iran Category:Battles involving Iran Category:History of the United Arab Emirates Category:Conflicts in 1971 Category:Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Category:1971 in Iran Category:Islands of the Persian Gulf Category:Iran–United Arab Emirates relations Category:Disputed territories in Asia